Description

The Palace of Parliament in Bucharest measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high, and 92 m below the ground. It has 12 levels on the surface and another 8 underground. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Palace of Parliament is the largest administrative building for civil use in the world, the most expensive administrative building in the world and the largest building in the world, entering the record book three times. The Palace of Parliament building is located in the central part of Bucharest (in district 5), on the place that is today called Dealul Arsenalului.

The construction of the Palace of Parliament began in 1983, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone was held on June 25, 1984. The building has an area of ​​330,000 m², inscribed in the “Book of Records” in the chapter “Administrative Buildings”, on the 2nd place in the world after the Pentagon building, and in terms of volume, with its 2,550,000 m³, ranked 3rd in the world, after the space rocket assembly building at Cape Canaveral in Florida and after the Quetzalcoatl pyramid in Mexico. For comparison, it can be mentioned that this building exceeds by 2% the volume of the pyramid of Keops in Egypt.

During the communist regime, the so-called Bucharest Project was an ambitious project of the Ceausescu couple started in 1978, as a replica of the city. After the 1977 earthquake, Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the “reconstruction” of Bucharest as a new city, by itself. In 1978 there was a national competition for the reconstruction of Bucharest. The contest lasted almost 4 years and was won by Anca Petrescu, a young architect of only 28 years, who was named chief architect of this exceptionally controversial project.
The construction site itself began in the 1980s with the demolition of over 7 km² of the old center of the capital and the relocation of over 40,000 people from this area. Among the missing buildings were Văcărești Monastery, Brancovenesc Hospital, National Archives, Republic Stadium etc. The works were carried out with the forced labor of the military on time, and thus the cost was reduced to a minimum. In 1989, the costs of the building were estimated at US $ 1.75 billion, and in 2006 at EUR 3 billion.

In order to visit the building, you need to make a prior reservation and present an official ID to the protection officers. Please note that this is a working institution and security measures are strictly enforced.

For 1-9 reservations please call +40 733 558 102 or +40 733 558 103 and mention your preferred language for availability (English or Romanian).
For group reservations (10 or more visitors) please send an email to cic.vizite@cdep.ro . Requests for fewer than 10 tickets will be ignored.

Visiting schedule:

March – October
9.00 – 17.00 (5.00 PM) with the last tour starting at 16.30 (4.30 PM)

November – February
10.00 – 16.00 (4.00 PM) with the last tour starting at 15.30 (3.30 PM)

Tour prices:

Standard Tour

60 lei – 1 adult
30 lei – 1 college student 19-26 yo (with valid student ID)
20 lei – 1 child 7-18 yo

Standard Tour & Basement (2 flights of stairs down) (Currently Not Available)

65 lei – 1 adult
35 lei – 1 college student 19-26 yo (with valid student ID)
25 lei – 1 child 7-18 yo

Private Standard Tour (max. 35 persons)

2100 lei / tour – maximum 35 persons per group

Private Standard Tour + Basement (max. 35 persons) (Currently Not Available)

2275 lei / tour – maximum 35 persons per group

Free entrace for

– children 0-6 yo accompanied by an adult
– disabled persons and companion (with valid proof and documentation)
– tour guide for organized groups of minimum 10 visitors

Other tariffs:

• Professional Photography – 300 lei / hour
• Professional Filming – 5000 lei / hour
  For professional photography and filming, please send an email request to cic@cdep.ro or fax to +4 021 312-0902